ADDIS ABABA: United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he was “deeply saddened” by the death of Ethiopia's Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, who past away late Monday night. The UN chief sent condolences to Zenawi's family, the government and people of Ethiopia. “Prime Minister Meles will be remembered for his exceptional leadership and advocacy on African issues within and outside the continent, as well as for overseeing his country's economic growth and development,” Ban said in a statement from his office. “The Secretary-General is grateful that Prime Minister Meles administration was a strong supporter of United Nations peacekeeping and peacemaking efforts. Ethiopian troops participated in several United Nations peacekeeping deployments in Africa, including in Sudan, Liberia and Burundi,” he added. Zenawi was born on May 8, 1955 and came to power in the early 1990s as prime minister, holding this position until Tuesday. He ruled the country with an iron grip, and the past few months has shown his strength over the country was not one that all Ethiopians enjoyed. “The Secretary-General will remember, in particular, Prime Minister Meles for his active commitment to working with the United Nations on numerous global peace and development challenges, most recently his important role in the ongoing negotiations between Sudan and South Sudan, the Millennium Development Goals and climate change,” the Secretary-General continued. “At this time of national mourning, the Secretary-General renews the commitment of the United Nations to work alongside the Government and the people of Ethiopia,” the statement added. According to Opride.com, “the former rebel-leader dropped out of Addis Ababa University's Medical School, where he studied for two years, to join the Tigray Peoples Liberation Front in 1974. He has been the chairman of both the TPLF and the ruling coalition, Ethiopian Peoples Revolutionary Democratic Front, since 1989." Meles died Monday just before midnight after contracting an infection, state TV announced Tuesday. Hailemariam Desalegn, who was appointed deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs in 2010, is now in charge of the Cabinet, state TV said. Already, there is a sense of uncertainty in the country over the death, and questions surrounding the future of Ethiopia continue. “I just don't know what to think right now," one Addis Ababa resident told Bikyamasr.com as citizen took to watching the television together in order to gain any new information on their leader's passing.
